New challenge for Eagles' Emil Igwenagu, a former Holy Name star

When Emil Igwenagu made his NFL debut for the Philadelphia Eagles last December, it was a thrilling moment for his family in Boylston and his friends and former teammates from Holy Name High and the University of Massachusetts, but, not surprisingly, the humble and hard-working Igwenagu kept it all in perspective.

“Honestly, I tried to look at it the same as any other day,” Igwenagu said Thursday from Philadelphia after the Eagles wrapped up a third day of joint practices with the Patriots. “You can't look at it as anything else. You don't want to get too overwhelmed. You just want to go in and do what you need to do. I tried to go in and just perform, and I think I did a pretty good job of that.”

Igwenagu went into his rookie NFL training camp last summer intent on working hard and making the most of his opportunities. Nothing has changed the second time around.

The 24-year-old is battling six other tight ends for a roster spot and role in new coach Chip Kelly's offense.

“You have to take the same approach every year,” Igwenagu said. “You have to come in and work hard and just be able to hopefully get the opportunity to show off your skills.”

Igwenagu went undrafted out of UMass, where he was a two-year captain and versatile all-conference performer. By all accounts, he had a pretty solid camp and earned a spot on the Eagles' eight-man practice squad.

He honed his skills there for the first 14 weeks of the season before being promoted to the 53-man roster Dec. 12.

Igwenagu ended up playing in three late-season games for the Eagles, serving as a backup tight end and getting his first start at fullback in place of the injured Stanley Havili in a Week 16 game against the Redskins. He also saw time on the Eagles kick coverage units.

“Obviously I just learned more about the game,” Igwenagu said, “the do's and don'ts, and obviously being able to get in last year at the end of the year helped a lot. I'm trying to expand from there.”

Eagles coach Andy Reid was fired at the end of last season and in came Kelly and the up-tempo offense he ran for four years at the University of Oregon.

Kelly's offense favors tight ends and doesn't utilize a fullback — the position where the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Igwenagu did most of his work last season.

“The offense is definitely a different system for me,” Igwenagu said. “It's more tight end for the most part that I've been playing, which I'm fine with. I did a little bit of it in college as well. It's taking some getting used to the new playbook and terminology, but other than that everything is going well.”

The Eagles have starting tight end Brent Celek back from last year. They also added James Casey through free agency and drafted former Stanford tight end Zach Ertz with their first pick of the second round.

The Eagles list two starting tight ends — Celek and Casey — on their depth chart. Igwenagu is currently third behind Celek and Clay Harbor at one of those spots. Kelly has said the Eagles could use some three-tight end sets this season, so it will be interesting to see how deep they go.

Igwenagu has gotten most of his snaps with the second and third teams and has worked with all of the Eagles quarterbacks —Michael Vick, Nick Foles and Matt Barkley are the top three. Igwenagu has also worked on special teams.

Igwenagu is not sure how much he will play when the Eagles face the Patriots in their preseason opener at 7:30 tonight at Lincoln Financial Field. (For those watching on TV, Igwenagu wears uniform No. 41). He thought this week's joint practices were beneficial.

“It was definitely good and different to go against other people than the Green and White,” he said. Igwenagu spent most of the offseason at home in Boylston and working out in the Worcester area. Among his workout partners was former UMass teammate John Griffin of Ashburnham. Griffin is in camp with the Jets.